It's really a shame that this book sucks. It's just that I'm such a fan of the psychedelic plant revolution, and this could have been a great book. It is, however, a good starting point for those who are clueless about the hallucinogenic plant scene.

Part one vacillates between annoyingly self-indulgent personal accounts and pseudo-intellectual commentaries upon the nature of shamanic hyperspaces... my advice is to skip it. It's not nearly as whimsically insightful as Robert Anton Wilson's classic Cosmic Trigger, he's not as scientifically calibrated as John Lilly, and he's not as eloquent and fantastic as Terence McKenna. Perhaps he's just in need of a quality editor.

Really the only reason to read this thing is for info on the "cultivation, preparation and shamanic use" of the plants--which is hideously unorganized beyond the chapter headings. Some excellent plants are discussed: Syrian Rue, Phalaris Grass (although he matter-of-factly proclaims that DMT is the active constituent while several subsequent studies have shown these grasses to contain an assortment of common and uncommon tryptamines), Salvia Divorum (which seems misplaced in "Minor Psychedelics" chapter), Ibogaine, Amanita Muscaria, San Pedro, Peyote, and many others. A good rewrite would organize the chapters into sections--e.g., "History & Tradition", "Habitat", "Preparation", "Dosage", "The High" and "Cultivation". The chapter on extraction techniques is genuinely helpful.Generally, however, the book's writing is unpolished, meandering, and encumbered. There is a place for personal accounts, but the idea should be to give the reader a general feel for the landscape. I'm sure the lessons he learned and passes on come from the heart, but not everybody needs the same lessons. What fellow researchers could really use are simple, well-organized summaries, which may be repeatedly referred to for the "cultivation, preparation and shamanic use" of these plants. Jim DeKorne should perform one of his helpful extraction techniques on his own book. --S.A.

(review date: 5/17/97)

last update 7/30/97


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